Neurosis
by Clover-tan
Summary: "This world is tainted, I must get rid of the imperfections. Shoot them, crush them, it doesn't matter to me. All that matters is that they must all die." My take on the origins of Kid's OCD. Kid's POV. Psychological horror. Contains some KidxMaka.
1. Marionette

Author's Note: Just so you know, I've taken a twist on the Soul Eater series and Death the Kid's mother is just my portrayal of her in this story so take note that most of these things don't happen in the manga or anime, it's another one of my deluded psychological horror fanfics. ^^ Please review and let me know whether you enjoy it or not.

Oh and another thing, if you like to listen to music when you're reading a story just to get into the mood and such (like me), try listening to _Hekku Shun _by Radwimps, it's a Japanese/ English song but it would really get you into the mood. ^^ (I listen to this song whenever I write psychological/ traumatic horror stories.

* * *

Chapter One - Marionette

I was seven years old when my mother died.

When she 'committed suicide'.

I could still remember her screams and pleas.

"You're a sick, horrible child. Get out of my sight." I clung tightly onto my rabbit plush doll and continued to stare at her. My perfect mother.

She coughed, smoking her cigarette and drinking down another bottle of alcohol. Her face was shrouded in foundation and messed-up black make-up but everything was symmetrical nonetheless. She loved symmetry; she was obsessed with it. It was somewhat of a psychological disorder. And she hated me because of that.

"You're so ugly," she would always point out and either tug my hair or lean and stare at me menacingly. I was born with three white stripes on my jet black hair and no matter how many times my mother tried to dye my hair or cut it off, it would always show. "You're not my child, now get out of my sight."

Sometimes I'd cry, but most of the time I would just stand there silently, eyes showing absolutely no emotion at all.

Cursed.

Ugly.

Impure.

The things that my mother would call me could be written into a list and would never end. Some of these words, I wouldn't even know their meanings, but I always knew that they didn't mean any good.

"Mommy, why do you hate me so much?" I asked innocently, pulling at her shirt and hugging tightly onto my rabbit doll. The stench of alcohol and smoke made me cough and splutter; I couldn't even imagine the damage it'd done to her lungs, let alone the damage it'd done to me.

She deeply inhaled her cigarette, causing it to flare a bright orange colour. She then breathed out a huge smog of grey smoke, making me cough again.

"Because you're you," she replied in that damaged, dry voice of hers.

My eyes flickered, stung by the carbon monoxide. I could feel tears well up in them, but I wasn't sure whether I was crying from being hurt by her words or from the cigarette smoke.

"Then…" I looked up and stared at her with my detached, yellow eyes. "What am I?"

She chuckled slightly; she seemed to be glad that I asked.

"An incompetent, nasty little demon, that's what you are," she snarled and suddenly threw her cigarette at my pink rabbit doll, setting it in flames.

I gasped and instantly dropped it in surprise, then I turned to look at her with widened eyes.

She smirked in amusement, taking enjoyment in my shock and devastation.

She'd destroyed the only thing that kept me happy in my life.

The only thing that smiled at me, even if it was an object.

And for that, I learned the meaning of hate.

A tear rolled down my cheek and I choked and cried, causing her to scoff in annoyance.

"If you're gonna cry, go and cry somewhere else. It's annoying," she snapped and pushed me, demanding me to get lost.

By then, my doll had turned into nothing but a pile of burnt ashes which mother told me to clean up and throw away. I did as she instructed, not speaking, not uttering a word. My mind was somewhere else; my thoughts no longer remained that of an innocent seven-year-old. They never were, anyway; I was known as a genius in my school, my IQ and mind exceeded everyone's by far. But none of the children played with me; they thought I was a freak. I wasn't like every other child. I wasn't happy, I never smiled, and I never laughed. I was depicted as a walking mass of depression, a being that brought misery into other people's lives.

I then suddenly had a flashback of an art lesson a few weeks ago.

"_In today's lesson, I want you all to paint a picture expressing your feelings and emotions."_

_My art teacher was a rather happy-go-lucky person. Or rather, that was what she portrayed herself to be._

_She had a slight fear of me, I could tell that she knew that I saw right through her, and for that, she became afraid of me._

_Everyone rushed to get their paints, all of them pushing past each other, wanting to get the cleanest, prettiest paints. I stood outside the crowd, waiting for them to finish so I could get my art equipment. I didn't care if I got the dirtiest, spoiled paints; it would have no effect on my painting anyway._

_I turned to look at the person sitting next to me, a girl with dark blond pigtails, tied with red ribbons. I leaned over to take a look at what she was painting and sighed at the sight; it was an amateur painting of her and what seemed to be her mother holding hands and smiling. Her father was nowhere to be seen._

_She turned to look at me, causing me to back off and get back to my own painting. But she didn't seem angry; she smiled, her emerald eyes flashing against the light._

"_Kid-kun, what are you painting?" she asked me curiously, pure innocence in her voice. She was one of the few kids that didn't hate me or make fun of me, and I liked her for that._

"_Take a look," I replied and she leaned forward to see my painting._

_It was a picture of a little boy holding a pink rabbit doll and stabbing a woman with a blood-stained knife._

_The boy was black haired and had saffron eyes._

_There were three white strands across his hair._

_Having seen the painting, tears welled up in her eyes and she suddenly burst out crying, causing the teacher to rush over and ask her what was wrong, to which she pointed at my painting._

_I frowned and sighed, figuring that I was probably going to be sent to therapy again._

_And get another beating from mother._

"Kid.. Kid!" My flashback stopped abruptly from the sound of my mother shouting at me. I turned to look at her, confused and distraught.

"I told you to get lost!" she repeated and threw an empty bottle at me, causing me to run off, out of the living room.

I huddled and leaned against the wall; my mother shouting and screaming at me was part of a daily routine that we had to go through and my father worked full-time as headmaster of a secondary school. To be honest, I couldn't even remember his face.

I then remembered my painting of the boy with the doll and knife. That boy was me.

I wanted him to be me.

I got up and walked over to the kitchen and reached for the knife. It was clean, unused; mother never cooked so all of the kitchen equipment was clean, slightly dusty though. Nevertheless, it would still be able to do its task.

I held tightly onto the knife and walked back into the living room, much to my mother's surprise and dismay.

It was only until she saw the knife that she became serious.

"Kid, what are you trying to do?" she implied, her voice slightly shaken by surprise and fear.

"Mommy hates me, doesn't she?" I stepped forward, causing her to get up and stare at me cautiously.

"I hate mommy too."

With that, my eyes flashed from an emotionless pale yellow to a piercing, raging saffron and I lunged forward, stabbing her forcefully into the stomach. She stumbled and fell back, dumbstruck by my sudden anger. Without a doubt, I could tell that she never thought I could harbour such emotions.

I was nothing but a marionette to her.

I pulled out the knife, causing her to gasp and jerk up in pain. She was breathing rapidly, her eyes were widened in frenzy.

"Don't kill me, don't you dare!" she screamed. "… Please!"

I took pleasure in watching her suffer and writhe in pain. Finally, she was understanding what I felt day after day.

I wished that she would stay that way forever.

But she had to die soon, either that or she would live, which I certainly didn't want to happen. And so I plunged the knife into her guts again and again, causing her to scream and thrash at me. I was hit a couple of times, but my determination and hatred had overcome me and I fought against her, continuously stabbing her. Until she smashed me on the head with a bottle of beer.

The thick green glass shattered into pieces and strong, reeking alcohol seeped through my hair and trailed down my face and neck. The pain was immense and blood was trailing down my forehead. I groaned and screamed, pulling back and clutching my head in pain. She then took it as her chance to gain control and leap onto me, trying to obtain the knife.

"Give me the knife, you demon!" she shouted, pushing me down and forcefully trying to grab the knife from my hand.

I was only a mere child, there was no way that I could overpower her. She easily took the knife from my hand and pointed at my face, her eyes a penetrating glare. Her other hand was clenched around her bleeding stomach which I had caused serious damage to.

This was it, I was going to die.

But then something clicked. I remembered that father had kept a pair of pistols in a drawer in the table. I could easily kill her with that. I reached into the drawer and pulled out a gun, much to her shock. She never knew that there were guns, let alone a drawer. She was always too drunk to notice anything.

Without any hesitance, I pulled the trigger, not even knowing if there were any bullets inside. Luckily, there were bullets and the one that I shot went right through her head.

I got up and watched her fall back, ending her last breath.

The scene wasn't perfect, it wasn't how I wanted it to be, but it couldn't be done twice. I had to admit though, it wasn't like how I depicted it to be in the painting. There were many differences.

There was no rabbit plush doll.

It was already burnt to ashes.

She didn't die from being stabbed by a knife.

She was dead from a gunshot.

My face wasn't emotionless and cold.

I was smiling.

The police came a while later; someone had reported hearing a gunshot coming from my house. They asked me a few questions and I lied, telling them that mother had committed suicide and when stabbing herself didn't work, she changed to shooting herself instead. And since I was just a young innocent child, they believed every single word of it.

I was then sent to live with my father at Shibusen, the school that he worked at. He was kind and spoiled me a lot, he bought me a new rabbit plush doll, which I kept in my rucksack. I also kept other things in my rucksack, but the one that I was aware of most was the other gun that was kept in the drawer, the one that I discreetly took whilst no-one was looking. But I also carried along another thing from home:

My mother's obsession with symmetry.

Somehow it'd seeped into my mind and I grew obsessed with it, just like mother did. It was a kind of OCD, and it grew to become my trait.

Years passed by and within a short time, I'd already turned sixteen.

But my obsession also grew with me.

And I had no idea how long I'd be able to control it.


	2. Angel

Author's Note: This chapter skips to when Kid is sixteen years old and studying in Shibusen. By the way, thanks for the reviews, and I really appreciated them (I honestly love full criticism, it gives me ways to improve. ^^) And now it's time to let my psychotic insanity overcome your mind! Chapter two~! (Oh and the long update was due to the fact that I was on summer vacation and I couldn't actually write a lot since I went mountain climbing xD sorry for the long wait though.)

By the way, I portrayed Chrona as a girl in this story. ^_^ (You know, just to match the plot and such.)

I tried to get into Kid's shoes with the way he thinks and talks, added with a touch of insanity. ^^ Hope it turned out well, anyway, enjoy~! And all reviews will be greatly appreciated and loved~!

* * *

Chapter Two - Angel

"Kid-kun, we need some scissors over here, can you grab some for me, please?" That soft, angelic voice rang through my ears like wedding bells. I swear, she could innocently enchant me into fulfilling each and every one of her wishes. Her dazzling symmetry captivated me; made me gaze at her in awe. She was the definition of beauty.

Maka Albarn.

The perfectly symmetrical young lady of Shibusen.

She'd unknowingly gotten me drunken in love with her; obsessed.

"Sure.." I mumbled nervously and leaned forward to grab a few scissors at the centre of the table. As I reached to grab the scissors, I noticed that Soul who was sitting in front of me, was glaring at me in the most hateful way a person could do. I was surprised, but not much since I also know that he also had romantic feelings for Maka. Had I not been the cold and apathetic person I was, I would've been afraid of him. But I wasn't and I made sure that I was going to trample over that asymmetrical piece of trash.

He was an impediment, one that needed to be rid of from the world.

I got up, holding the scissors pointed down to the floor and walked over to Maka's table. I could've just walked past Black Star to get to her table but I decided to go the other, longer way.. Past Soul.

I casually tucked my chair under the table and proceeded to walk past the white-haired demon, who was quietly painting a picture. His right hand was painting and his left hand was resting between the paper and the table. I smirked and 'accidentally' dropped one of the scissors, which was pointed down, onto his hand, causing him to flinch in surprise and pain.

Blood trickled from his hand down onto the floor, forming a little red puddle. The wound wasn't that big, but it'd certainly cut down deep into his skin.

"Ah.. Soul-kun, I'm sorry, my hand slipped!" I apologized innocently. "Are you hurt?" I asked, pretending to be concerned.

He turned to glare at me and gripped tightly onto his bleeding hand. "The hell, I am!" he shouted angrily. "What the hell is wrong with you? You meant to do that, didn't you?" To my surprise, he lunged forward and forcefully grabbed my collar. "What are you smirking at, you freak?"

Freak. That one word cut through me like razor blades. The only word that ever hurt me; the word that my mother would use to curse me, the word that my classmates would use to tease me.

"Soul! What are you doing?" I gasped for air as he tightened his grip and choked as he grudgingly let go. I coughed and spluttered, then tiredly looked up to see Maka, frowning at Soul, who was now slightly calmer, or rather, afraid.

"Stop accusing Kid-kun of doing such ruthless things all the time!" she shouted strictly.

"Tch…" He scoffed and turned to glare at me, then stomped out of the classroom in frustration.

I was glad and grateful that she'd helped me but I was also embarrassed. I was the guy and she was the girl, after all. But still, her helping me had made me fall even deeper in love with her, even though I felt that it wasn't possible. I loved her way too much.

"…" There were no words spoken but I suddenly swerved around, as if someone had said something behind my back. I was slightly surprised, but I was actually more scared.

Chrona Makenshi.

The wallflower, as I'd known her to be.

She was quite frightening yet intriguing to me, her deep cold eyes seemed to stare right through me, which continuously caused me to shiver nervously. She was an interesting person, I had to admit, but my feelings for her couldn't compare to my feelings for Maka. They were polar opposites.

"You're.. not being fair…"

My eyes widened in surprise and I immediately jerked back in surprise. She knew?

"Chrona, is there something wrong?" I asked, pretending to be concerned, yet worried that she'd saw my intention to hurt Soul.

"…" She continued to stare at me silently with that emotionless expression on her face, making it impossible to know what she was thinking.

"I…" She blushed suddenly and looked away nervously; I wasn't surprised, she wasn't exactly a sociable person after all.

"Um.. Please don't stare at me like that.." she mumbled, uncomfortable by my serious gaze.

"Oh, sorry." I quickly backed away and stood next to Maka, who was showing concern for her. Hell, I suddenly felt a pang of jealousy even though they were both girls. It just proved how obsessive I was.

"Chrona, it's ok. You don't have to say anything." Maka leaned forward and took hold of her hand. "But if there's something bothering you, then feel free to let me know," she insisted reassuringly in that sweet, kind voice of hers.

My angel.

Chrona nodded slowly and smiled sincerely. "Thank you, Maka."

My eyes flashed a piercing furious saffron as I crossed my arms and looked away in frustration. The emotions that I felt at that moment were overwhelming, I wanted Maka to belong to me and me alone.

And that was when the perfect idea struck.

All I had to do..

Was destroy all of the impediments.


	3. Headshot

Chapter Three - Headshot

"Soul-kun, may I have a moment with you, please?" I requested politely with a smile on my face, instantly irritating him to his limit.

"What?" he snapped angrily, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall in that delinquent-like way of his.

"It's something that I don't want to discuss with you in public," I explained. "Can we meet at the rooftop during lunch break?"

"Huh. You'd wish," he scoffed, and proceeded to walk away.

I felt something snap in my head, and my fake smile suddenly felt like there was a crack in it. A voice, a strangely unfamiliar voice echoed eerily in my head.

_Hurry up, before it's too late._

"It's about Maka."

He stopped instantly and slowly, reluctantly turned around.

"… What?"

I smirked in satisfaction.

"Well?" I urged.

He furrowed his eyebrows in frustration and gritted his teeth.

".. Alright."

I opened the door to the rooftop and let a strong gust of wind blow past me like a winter breeze.

Here came the day which would be the end of all of my troubles.

I smiled; a true smile.

_Let's get this done and over with._

"Oi, Kid."

I turned around to see Soul, leaning against the door and glaring at me.

"Hey, Soul-kun," I greeted in a mockingly formal way.

"What do you want?" he demanded, cutting right to the chase.

My smile widened but darkened into a sinister smirk.

"Your death."

And with that, I pulled out my pistol, the pistol that I used to kill my mother.

A shot right through her head.

Let's see if I can aim properly and make another accurate headshot.

Not surprisingly, he instantly froze in shock.

"W-what the.." he muttered in disbelief.

"Not so cocky now, are we?" I taunted with a smirk. "But I didn't lie. I honestly did call you out so we could talk about Maka; see, I'm in love with her. But love always has obstacles.. Right? And you're the obstacle in this situation. Work out the math, solve the problem~! All in all, it adds up perfectly and the solution to this problem is to get rid of Soul. My math could never go wrong." With that, I cocked the gun and got ready to fire.

"See you later, Soul."

Bang!

I smiled in self-satisfaction, but my smile was quickly wiped off my face; my gunshot didn't hit Soul even though I'd aimed right at his head.

_He.. Jumped off the building..?_

I ran to the side of the rooftop and looked down at the floor below. Soul had fallen onto a patch of grass and was bleeding, let alone not moving.

_He's.. dead, right?_

I panicked as I thought about what could happen if he was still alive: would he tell everyone about what I tried to do to him? Would I be executed? Would Maka hate me?

_Don't panic.. Problems are made to be solved._

"Soul!"

I recognized that voice. It was the voice of my dear angel.

She ran over to him and cradled him in her arms as more and more people began to crowd around and murmur.

"This isn't good…" I muttered in frustration.

"He won't respond!" she cried out in anguish as Black Star called an ambulance.

_Unconscious?_

I sighed in relief and wiped the sweat off my forehead.

_Now I know what to do._

As I tucked my gun into my pocket and lost interest in the crowd below, someone glanced up to look at the rooftop.

I gasped in surprise and knelt down in an attempt to hide.

_Did they see me?_

_

* * *

_

"Kid-kun, did you come to visit Soul? How thoughtful of you." Maka smiled as she noticed me walking over to Soul's room with a bouquet of lilies.

I nodded and smiled back. "You too?" I asked.

"Yeah, I was just leaving," she pointed out. Her eyes then saddened and she sighed tiredly. "Soul's still in a coma, the doctors said he'd wake up any minute now, but I've waited by his side for over a week now and I could really use some sleep.. I hope that's not selfish of me.."

"Of course not," I kindly assured. "You must be really tired, please get some rest."

_Because you can't be here right now._

Her face lifted as she smiled in relief. "Yes.. Thank you, Kid-kun." Having said that, she walked down the hall and exited the hospital.

After being sure that she'd left, I opened the door to Soul's room and cautiously stepped inside. No-one was inside, except for Soul.

_A perfect opportunity._

I closed the door behind me and gently laid the bouquet of lilies into a vase on the table next to the bed. I then walked over to stand next to Soul and stared at him silently.

No response.

I smirked in self-satisfaction and traced my finger down his IV tube.

"You know, I really hate you, Soul. You have everything I ever wanted and yet you take it for granted." I then gripped lightly onto the tube and sighed in a sort of mocking way. "But what I hate most about you is.." His eyes suddenly fluttered open and widened in shock as he saw what I was doing.

"Awake? Good afternoon, I brought you some lilies." I chuckled and smiled. "I know, you'd thank me right now, but you can't speak, right? Don't mention it, you're welcome."

He glared at me in rage and reached for the emergency button next to him, but I quickly knocked it off the bed.

"You won't ruin this for me, Soul Evans," I growled heatedly.

The moment wasn't exactly as I imagined it would be, I wanted to torment him even longer, but I had to take what was given to me and quickly get rid of him. Being with him longer was going to be too much of a risk since there was no lock on the door and there was also a small window.

"Goodbye, Soul… I'll miss you," I parted sarcastically and squeezed the IV tube with all of my strength, digging my nails deep into it.

His eyes widened in shock and distress, but he didn't have the strength to move and I pinned him down before he could even try. I watched in interest and fascination as his body began to jolt violently and the pupils in his eyes rolled up behind his eyelids, leaving only a patch of pale white in his eyes.

To my devastation and surprise, his heart rate monitor started beeping loudly as his heart was beginning to flatline. I swerved around, checking to see if anyone was coming; there was no-one, but I heard rushing footsteps approaching.

"Damn it," I cursed in frustration.

I began to panic until the voice in my head called out again.

_Hurry up. Kill him now._

I squeezed on the IV tube tighter until he finally jerked one last time and slowly closed his eyes. But one thing surprised me, scared me, actually; it was the moment before he died: his pupils rolled back and stared at me intensely, but what really scared me was the fact that they were bloodshot and he resembled a demon.

The footsteps were getting louder so I quickly opened the window and jumped down from it, landing onto the pavement. I hurriedly escaped from the hospital grounds and rushed back to Shibusen, where Maka was gloomily sitting on the stairway.

"Kid-kun? Did you just come back from the hospital?"

I nodded and gasped for air. "Um, I think I saw someone from school at the hospital, probably came to visit Soul, too."

"Oh, I see. Maybe it was Black Star," she suggested.

_I have to make sure I don't get the blame._

As I walked into the classroom and sat down in my seat, I pondered over the thought of who was running to Soul's room.

_Was it a nurse? Probably was._

I felt a chill down my spine and turned around to see Chrona standing behind me.

"Chrona-san, is there something you need?" I asked politely.

She stared at me blankly before raising a finger and pointing it at me.

"It's not nice to kill," she uttered in barely a whisper.

My eyes widened in shock and I backed away in surprise and disbelief.

"W-what are you talking about?"

She eerily tilted her head to a side and continued to give me that blank, unpredictable stare. The fact that she wasn't stuttering or acting nervous and seemed to inhabit completely different persona scared me.

She slowly stepped closer to me and leant forward so her face was above mine's.

"I won't tell if you won't."


	4. Grief

Author's Note: I deeply apologise for the unbelievably long updates on all of my Soul Eater fanfics, I've been suffering from major writer's block and my mind has just been so engrossed on Pokemon lately. ¬_¬ Please don't give up on me~!

* * *

Chapter Four - Grief

"What do you mean by that?"

I stared, unblinking at Chrona who seemed to gaze right through me.

"I know what you did, Kid. I _saw_."

_She.. Saw?_

My eyes widened in shock and disbelief and I grabbed her by the arm and dragged her out of the class to talk in private.

"Kid's a bad boy, he killed poor, helpless Soul~," she sang in a mocking, tormenting way which rattled me to my very core.

"K-keep your mouth shut."

_Damn it, I can't possibly threaten her. That'll make her more likely to tell someone like the authority.. Or Maka. Oh god, not her._

"What do you want?" I demanded.

"We're both the same, Kid~," she stated, a slight madness in her voice.

"What?" I had no idea what she was talking about.

"I have a secret I've been longing to tell you." Having said that, she leaned forward and whispered into my ear, "You know how loads of people have gone missing lately? Kirikou, Jacqueline, Kim, the list goes on. I killed them all, Kid."

_What?_

"Y-you're kidding.."

She leaned back and smiled menacingly. "You know fully well that I'm not."

_I'm dealing with a psycho here. I have to be careful._

"What do you want?" I asked again, making my point clear.

"Let's be partners in crime."

"… Wha-?"

"I can't do it alone, I can't kill everyone by myself. I need your help. In exchange for me keeping my mouth shut."

_Damn._

I was cold-blooded, that was true, but to actually kill people I had absolutely nothing against?

I sighed in frustration. "Are you serious?"

"Like hell, I am."

She certainly wasn't what I expected. I guess it was true; the most dangerous people are usually the people you don't suspect. The quiet girl in the corner, the person who always smiles and do as he's told, they're the murderers.

And there it was. I unwillingly signed a death alliance signed with blood.

"Tonight we kill Marie," Chrona stated as if what she was saying was perfectly normal.

"…" I didn't want to do it, I wasn't completely heartless. She was.

"When the clock strikes midnight, you'll sneak into her house and I'll guard the place. You know what to do then, right?"

I slowly nodded and clenched my teeth.

_I can't believe I'm doing this._

But there was one question which I desperately needed the answer to.

"Why are you doing this, Chrona?"

She turned her head around to look at me and smiled frighteningly with eyes that seemed to stare right through me as if she threw a pole that pierced through my heart.

"Because it's fun~."

Midnight came so fast that I didn't even have time to contemplate, although there was pretty much nothing left to contemplate. Do it or die, I told myself.

I equipped my pistol and half-heartedly snuck into her house, which was unlocked. It wasn't strange though, Marie was dense and naïve; she was a total klutz.

I silently walked up the stairs and headed into the first room, which happened to be her bedroom. It was dark and the candles were out, but I was able to see Marie's silhouette on her bed; she was fast asleep and as still as a log.

And then the uncontrollable voice in my head talked again.

_Do it. Do it now. Kill her._

_Kill her!_

"I'm sorry, Marie." And with that, I aimed my pistol at her forehead and closed my eyes tightly shut.

Bang!

Birds flew from their nests in shock and slowly opened my eyes. I gasped in surprise and backed away, almost bumping into her night table.

Her eyes were wide open.

She was dead, that's for sure, but her eyes were wide open, her pupils dilated. But the most frightening thing was that she was looking at me; blood dripped down to her nose and created a puddle of scarlet on her pillow, but her eyes remained open.

I made a run for it, that was the only thing I could think of doing at that time.

I rushed down the stairs in terror and exited the door to see Chrona waiting for me with her arms crossed.

"Finished?" she asked.

"I can't do this, Chrona. I can't," I stated alarmingly, tired and panting with every breath.

"You can and you will," she snapped and suddenly grabbed my chin with her hand. "Otherwise I'll tell your beloved Maka. Understand?"

I nodded. I wasn't used to being bossed around, ever since mother died, but I had no choice.

I was going to have nightmares every night.

In fact, every day was probably going to be a nightmare.

I was shrouded with guilt, my conscience was shaken, but my feelings for Maka were stronger and they pushed me to do what Chrona told me to do without saying a word.

_Goodbye, heaven._

_I probably wasn't going to get accepted there, anyway._

Investigations were made the next day and poor Professor Stein looked so shaken that everyone thought that this was the final push to him crossing the border to insanity, something that was bound to happen one day.

The authority questioned every teacher and student and when they came to me, I simply replied with a 'I don't know, I wasn't close to her'. An unavoidable statement.

Chrona was a perfect actress. I watched in awe as she marvellously acted as if she was so shaken from the situation and nervously sat down in a corner, playing the shy, antisocial girl as usual. I didn't mind, until Maka walked over to her and tried to comfort her.

_She's faking it! It's all a lie!_

I desperately wanted to shout that out, but I couldn't. It killed me to see her so troubled by the person who'd actually planned all of this out.

To my surprise, Maka then walked over to me and began to talk.

"Kid-kun, you've been hanging around with Chrona a lot lately. Do you have any idea how to get her to stop being so shy?" she asked concernedly.

_You're so kind, Maka. You don't deserve to carry this burden._

"Um, no," I replied. "She's easily shaken, though. Marie was also very nice to her so it's only normal that she'd be this upset."

"Yeah, that's true," she agreed and put on a troubled face. "I'm still worried about her, though. Look after her, won't you, Kid-kun?"

I nodded and smiled reassuringly. "Of course."

She smiled back and nodded. "Thank you, you're always so nice." She then brushed past me and headed towards the door.

_It seems like the hospital hasn't told her yet._

… _Any time now._

I watched as Black Star walked over to Maka with a troubled face and started to talk to her. I then watched as she backed away in disbelief and laughed, unable to accept that he was telling the truth.

_First is shock and disbelief._

"W-what? You're kidding right? Haha, that's a good joke, you really had me at it there."

Black Star glumly shook his head and she then realized that he might've not been kidding.

_Second is denial._

"NO! That's not true! I won't accept it, I won't! Don't joke around like this, Black Star!" she screamed, causing the rest of the people in the hallway to stop and stare at her, but I was pretty sure she didn't give a damn about them at that moment.

_Then comes bargaining._

"No, no, no. Anyone, but him. This isn't possible, w-why?" She fell to her knees and tears overflowed from her eyes. I watched in pain as she yelled, "I could've died! Why wasn't it me instead of him?"

_Guilt._

"This is all my fault. I should've stayed there longer, I shouldn't have rushed off. He needed me and I wasn't there. This is all my fault."

_Anger._

"An accident? It wasn't an accident! Somebody killed him and I'm going to hunt that person down and _kill_ them! That's right, I'm going to avenge Soul, it's the least that I can do!" Her eyes raged in anger as she trembled in fury and balled her fists.

_Acceptance._

"H-he's dead.. I'm alone now.. I bet he's looking down at me now and laughing at how helpless I am without him. Well, I guess I have to show him a thing or two, right?" She forced on a smile, but Black Star and Tsubaki knew fully well how much this was killing her inside.

_And finally, hope._

"Maybe, maybe Professor Stein can find a way to bring him back to life, like he did with Sid, right? That's possible. I shouldn't cry, I should smile..! Soul's going to come back, he can't possibly leave me on my own!"

I sighed and hit myself in frustration.

_I'm sorry, Maka._

_I'm selfish and I didn't even take a second to think about how you'd take this._

_I'm so sorry._

"We haven't got time for pity, Kid." Chrona emerged from behind me and whispered chillingly into my ear, "We've got plenty more to kill."

I shut my eyes and tightened the grip I had on the table.

_I will never wake up from this endless nightmare._


	5. Distortion

Author's Note: I always listen to music when I write stories and I've noticed that the song Acute by Vocaloid matches this story rather well since it's a rather dark song and it's also sung by three people (Miku, Kaito, Luka) and I like to imagine that Maka, Chrona and Kid are singing it. ^^ But yeah, I recommend this song (it's Japanese, by the way).

* * *

Chapter Five - Distortion

I think I lived for symmetry and love.

But if they both disappeared then I guess there'd be no point in living, right? I guess.. I guess that's what made me into the person I became.

I didn't talk to her for the next few days; she didn't show up at Shibusen anyway. It was strange, though; I wasn't that concerned about her, maybe because I had so much on my mind then. Murdering people in their sleep soon became a rather simple task for me, mostly because I didn't have to put up with a struggle and let's face it, it's much easier to shoot a target when the target's lying still.

The way I killed also changed.

I'd heard people refer to me as the 'spiral killer', most likely because a strange habit grew onto me, which then affected my way of murdering. It'd be easier to explain if I referred to an example. The best example, I suppose would be the killing of Tsubaki Nakatsukasa.

"_00:00. It's time."_

_I nodded without hesitation, maybe this was what it's like to be cold-blooded. Tsubaki lived with Black Star, who slept like a log so I needn't worry about waking him. I was surprised and taken aback when Chrona told me I had to kill her, let's face it, she was also kind to me although she chose to ignore me most of the time. Still, she never did anything to harm me, so I felt slightly guilty._

_Their house had no locks, it was a traditional Japanese house with tatami floors and weather dolls hanging by the front door. I crept inside, gun in hand and slowly shifted the door open._

'_The first room is Black Star's, the second room is the living room and the third room is Tsubaki's' was what Chrona informed me._

_I silently watched her movements as raven-haired girl slept in her futon, blissfully unaware of what was about to happen to her._

_I wrapped a towel around the gun, to soften the noise and aimed at her head. "Goodbye," I whispered before pulling the trigger._

_There was still a 'bang', a less loud one nonetheless. Like I said, Black Star slept like a log so he still didn't wake up, giving me time to hang around. "Might as well," I mumbled to myself, finding it hard to leave her in that state._

_I had a habit of attempting to make everything symmetrical, even the way people died; and so I pulled her out of the futon, laid her in the middle of the room, arms and legs open, resembling a star. I dipped my hand in her dark scarlet blood and drew a perfect circle around her body, creating perfect symmetry._

_Chrona scorned at me for doing this, calling it a 'waste of time', but she let me do as I pleased since I'd already played my part._

_This was probably the reason why I was known as the spiral killer._

"What are you doing? There's no time for daydreaming." Chrona appeared behind me and grasped a chilling hand onto my shoulder, making me shiver. "Our next target…" I could tell she was smiling, I didn't even have to turn around to know so. ".. Is Medusa."

I swerved in disbelief and surprise. "Medusa? But, that's your mother!"

"So?" She laughed, an insane cackle. "That didn't prove to be much of a concern to you!"

My mind flashed white as I heard her say that. A short, quick flashback immediately appeared in my head, causing me to drop to my knees in agony. The pain.. It hurt so bad. Regret? Guilt? I didn't know those feelings.. And yet I felt them.

"How do you know all this?" was the only thing I could think of asking her.

She smirked and laughed, but she didn't answer my question. "That isn't what you should be worrying about right now." She knelt down to stare at me in the eye, lean forward and whisper, "Do me a favour. Kill her in the most painful way possible."

_What?_

"No, Chrona!" I refused, I just couldn't do it. "I can't!"

"Weakling," she scoffed. She got up, towering above me. "Fine, I'll do it. To tell you the truth, I've kind of been wanting to do it myself anyway."

_Is this really happening?_

"You won't guard the place this time," she instructed. "Medusa.. She will prove to be a rather difficult task, that is why I need you by my side." She pulled me up forcefully, almost making me toppling over. "We don't have to worry about passer-bys, no-one ever visits her." There was a slight scorn and satisfaction as she said that. "I'm pretty sure she'll struggle though, she'll definitely wake up." She smirked. "She's like a snake. A venomous snake."

I couldn't come to terms with how she could kill her own mother. But then, wouldn't that make me a hypocrite?

Midnight; Chrona's favourite time to kill and my time to switch into my dark persona.

As we walked through a forest leading to Medusa's house, I just couldn't help but ask her something that was spinning through my head for a while now.

"Say, Chrona."

"Hm?" She continued to skip nonchalantly through the woods, paying no heed to me.

"Do you pretend to be shy and antisocial?"

She stopped and turned to look at me. Strange, it wasn't the usual piercing, menacing look. Instead, she seemed rather surprised and troubled.

"… I don't know," she told me, I could tell that she was telling the truth. "I suppose I have two personas, my shy, innocent side and my dark, bloodthirsty side." I didn't know whether to take her seriously or not. "But then, I could be lying, right? Maybe I am pretending, just like I'm pretending to have split personalities right now."

Chrona confused me an awful lot, which was why I didn't take her so seriously anymore.

"One question in exchange for another," she stated. "What do you see in Maka Albarn?"

That certainly took me by surprise.

"What's _not _to see in her?" I retorted. "She's.. perfect."

She snorted as we continued to walk through the woods, much to my dismay. "Love is such a struggle at our age." She laughed and glanced at me. "Don't you think you'll look back at this when you're older and laugh at how stupid you used to be?"

I was getting a bit irritated by her. "There's nothing stupid in love," I stated. I was a hopeless romanticist and nothing more.

"If you say so." We reached Medusa's house and we stopped to look around. "Shall we go in then?"

I reluctantly nodded and she proceeded to slip a wire through the lock, fiddling with it for a while before successfully opening the door. We cautiously stepped inside to see that it was a fairly normal house, much to our surprise. Something caught my eye; a bunch of lab equipment, including test tubes and jars filled with strange liquids and figurines.

"What's that?" I whispered out of curiosity.

"The way I was born."

I immediately turned to look at her in shock. "You're.. kidding, right?" Chrona's jokes… I never really understood them.

She shrugged, leaving me with a chilling feeling, and proceeded to go up the stairs.

"We haven't got all day," she informed, gesturing at me to follow her, which I did after taking another quick glance at the strange, eerie jars.

There was silence as we carefully walked up the stairs; it was the type of situation where I could even hear a pin drop. That is, until I heard her voice.

"Chrona-chan…"

We froze in shock and my mind blanked for a second, dreading the worst, which was getting caught and being executed with Maka finding out the truth. The worst case scenario. I heard Chrona quietly whisper an obscenity as she rushed up the stairs, leaving me not knowing whether to follow her or just stay there.

"I knew this would happen.." she mumbled in frustration as she headed around a corner past the stairs where I couldn't see her. I decided to follow her into Medusa's bedroom, where the sinister nurse was sitting on her bed, seemingly waiting for our arrival.

"Medusa," Chrona stated, her word filled with hatred and disgust.

"Chrona-chan." There was a fearful way in which she said her name, it was a sort of mocking, demeaning way. She then noticed me and her smirk widened. "You brought poor Kid into this situation, too." She abruptly got up from the bed, alarming the both of us and walked over to me and suddenly grabbed my chin. I could've easily escaped from her grasp, but something frightening and chilling about her made me freeze, unable to move from my spot. "Tell me," she stated. "Do you have the guts to kill me?"

I didn't know what to do; surely, I wasn't the one who was going to attempt to murder her. I was just… Chrona's pawn. She suddenly let go of me and pushed me with inhuman force, causing me to fall back and crash into a wall. I didn't know whether it was the sheer shock or the utter force, but I blacked out for a few minutes and by the time I woke up, so much had already happened.

_W-what..?_

_Did I.. lose consciousness?_

I slowly fluttered my eyelids open and my vision was slightly distorted, although I was able to make out who and where Chrona and Medusa were.

_What's going on?_

My eyes immediately widened as I jolted back in surprise and disbelief; surely enough, Medusa was clasping her hands around Chrona's neck and laughing devilishly.

_Damn it. What do I do?_

_Should I save her?_

I decided to intervene since Chrona's death would most likely lead to my secret being found out. I grabbed Medusa's shoulder and tried to pull her away from the choking girl, but she overpowered me and threw me against a wall, leaving me thinking that she certainly wasn't human.

I didn't have the strength to get up and that was when I realized something.

_My gun._

_I still have it._

I reached into my back pocket and pulled out my trusty pistol, which I hesitantly aimed at Medusa, who was busy wringing Chrona's neck and paid no attention to me.

_Shoot her, damn it!_

My finger began to pull on the trigger, but before I could shoot, something made me stop and drop the gun in awe and shock.

_What's happening?_

I could only watch as Chrona suddenly grabbed onto Medusa's hands and forcefully pulled them away from her neck without any effort whatsoever; her veins had transformed into a shade of deep black and her pupils dilated. There was a sinister, malicious smirk on her face that was far more evil than I had ever seen. She resembled the devil. But at that moment, I believed she _was_ the devil.

Medusa backed away in shock and fear, she didn't make any attempt to run, probably because she was plainly dumbstruck like me. We watched, trembling as ebony wings sprouted from her back, tearing her dress and locks of her hair dyed themselves into a dark shade of black, matching her veins and her wings. There was nothing left of her that was human. Crosses, x-shaped crosses, marked themselves across her forehead and her veins burst out from her wrist, solidifying themselves into sharp, ebony spears. Chrona smiled and pointed the spears at Medusa, the tips reaching her trembling neck.

"Mother, what have you done to me?" she taunted mockingly.

"This is… impossible," Medusa gasped in disbelief.

"No," the inhuman girl stated. "This is the incarnation of you." With those final words, she swerved her arm, slitting her throat, causing Medusa to drop to the floor, clasping her hands around her uncontrollably bleeding neck, which created a puddle of black around her room.

_Black blood?_

"You… You will always remain as my copy.. You will never be human.." she muttered through continuous gasps, taking a final wide-eyed look at her smiling daughter before collapsing and dying with her eyes still open.

I was cowering in a corner, unable to handle what was happening.

Chrona turned to look at me with a blank stare that made me unable to tell what she was thinking. Her wings slowly wilted and went back into her body and the marks on her forehead faded away as her look softened and the black spears inserted themselves back into her wrists, making her shiver in pain. Surely, it must've hurt.

There was only one thing that I could ask.

"What are you, Chrona?"

She heaved a sigh, probably tired from hearing the same fear-filled questions.

"I'm an experiment," she stated. "A result from the extraction of Medusa's blood and.." She paused and continued. "Stein's blood."

My jaw dropped.

_Stein? Professor Stein?_

"Stein?"

She nodded. "Certainly wasn't expecting that, were you? My mother, she held an undying love for Stein, who was oblivious to her feelings and when he found out, they were unreciprocated, causing poor mother to fall into a deep depression, which enraged her into slitting his face and taking a drop of his blood. She then slit her own wrist and extracted her blood, which she put into a Petri dish and conducted a few experiments." She smiled, taking amusement into the fact that I was so dumbstruck. "Unfortunately, black magic never proved to be good for scientific experiments and an error occurred, that error being me."

I simply couldn't take all this into my mind. It was inapplicable.

"This is…"

"Impossible?" Her malicious smile widened. "Everything's possible."

"You're… not human?"

She shrugged. "I.. honestly don't know what I am. I do know that I have an undying hatred for everyone, though, which is why they all deserve to die. And if the stupid death god isn't doing it then I have to take matters into my own hands." She turned to look at me. "With the help of you, of course."

_That's the reason why she made me kill all those people?_

"I don't get it." I frowned and got up. "Why do you require my help? I'm human like everyone else, why don't you want to kill _me_?"

She stepped closer to me, making me cringe. "That's where you're wrong." She cupped my cheek into her hand and whispered, "You're not human."

_Huh?_

"What are you talking about?" I pushed her hand away from me and glared at her. "Don't mix me up with your kind."

"You may choose to believe whatever you want to believe. I do feel like I owe this to you, though. You deserve to hear it."

"Hear what?"

"Your mother… she's one of us."

_What?_

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Your mother bears our blood. Black blood, the most unsanitary blood of all. This blood gives us the uncontrollable rage and hatred for everything and everyone."

_If she's telling the truth… would that be why mother hated me so much?_

"Are you… lying?"

"Would I lie to you?"

"…"

"As I said, you may choose to believe what you want, but I guarantee that whatever escapes my mouth is all truth and nothing more. You're not a pureblood, which explains why your rage and hatred isn't as strong as mine's. It's still stronger than every other normal human being, though."

"This is… incomprehensible."

"Is it? Would you say that your obsession for symmetry is normal? Your 'love' for Maka that drove you to killing Soul without even thinking twice?"

She made a point.

"I…" I didn't know what to say. My head was aching so much, as if it was about to explode.

She pointed a finger at my forehead and stated, "You are freed, Death the Kid."

_Freed?_

"What?"

"You are freed from fulfilling my tasks."

"… Really?"

"I mean it."

I didn't know what I was feeling; happiness, relief, shock? Strangely enough, there was a mix of disappointment, as if I'd miss shooting people in the head. I slipped my pistol back into my back pocket and took a step back as she lowered her hand. As I was about to leave the place, I stopped and turned around to look at her with intense eyes.

"Are you going to continue killing people?" I asked; I just had to know.

She nodded, to my dismay. "I won't kill you," she stated. "But if you intervene, I won't think twice about slashing your throat."

_Fair enough._

"… Who's your next target?" It was plain curiosity, I wasn't going to try and stop her since nobody ever cared about me anyway. I didn't owe it to anybody.

"My next target.."

She smiled sinisterly and then said the words that caused my heart to stop beating.

".. Is Maka Albarn."


	6. Goodbye

Author's Note: Well, this is the last chapter. I hope you've enjoyed this story and thank you for the reviews! It's always nice to hear that someone enjoys reading my stories. ^^ Until next time!

* * *

Chapter Six - Goodbye

_Did she -?_

"M-Maka?"

Chrona smirked, taking amusement in my shock and devastation. "That's right."

"You can't…"

"Well, why not?" She crossed her arms and stated, "I was going to leave her out at first since she has such a strong spirit, but it seems that her spirit's now broken, after finding out about Soul's death." She then pointed a finger at me and grinned. "Technically, her death is your fault."

_No._

_This can't be._

"You can't kill her!" I shouted in desperation.

"Try and stop me." She then proceeded to turn and walk away, leaving me dumbstruck and devastated.

_I can't.._

_Do anything._

"Kid-kun, what's the rush?" Maka ran after me as I ordered her to follow me down the hallway.

"We don't have time," I stated, confusing her even more.

"Where are you taking me?"

"We have to get away."

_If I can't stop Chrona, then I'll have to keep Maka out of her reach._

I took her out of Shibusen, but she refused to leave Death City, much to my dismay.

I guess I had to explain the situation to her, after all.

"What's going on?" she impatiently demanded as we stopped outside the gates.

"I, um.." I nervously kicked a rock on the ground and sighed, calming down a bit. "This murderer that's on the loose, I know who it is and I know who's their next target."

"What?" Her eyes widened in shock and disbelief. "But how do you know all this?"

"I…" I had to lie; I just couldn't bear to tell her the truth. She'd definitely hate me if I told her the truth. "I happened to hear them plotting their next target and I made a run for it after I found out that it's you."

"Me?" There was fear and surprise in her voice. "Why me?"

I shrugged and replied, "I don't know. All I know is that we have to get out of here, out of their reach."

She stared at me for a moment before nodding and taking a hold of my hand. "I'm depending on you, Kid-kun." I felt heat rise to my face as I felt her small hand grip onto mine. This wasn't how it was meant to be.

_I wish it wasn't like this._

_I wish this never happened._

We continued to run, not knowing where we were heading, but we ran nonetheless. As long as we were free from Chrona's reach.

"I'm tired, Kid-kun," Maka suddenly stated with a yawn. "It's really late, too. Can't we stop and rest somewhere?"

I solemnly nodded, afraid that Chrona might catch up with us. After all, she never did let go of a target.

"Here?" I suggested as we stood in front of a worn-down inn.

"Yeah, I guess this is the best place around here," she half-heartedly agreed as we stepped inside.

We had enough money to rest for one night and I worried about what we'd do during the other nights. This wasn't planned out at all.

"Ah, there's only one bed…" Maka softly mentioned as I opened the door to our room.

"R-right…" I stuttered as I blushed uncontrollably.

"Um, I can sleep on the floor.." she nervously suggested.

"No, I will. I insist."

"Um, ok…" She sat down on the bed and looked up at me. "Say, Kid-kun. This murderer, who is it?"

_I was hoping I'd be able to avoid this._

"It's…" I sighed, deciding that there was no harm in telling her. "It's Chrona."

"Chrona?" She gasped in shock and placed a hand over her lips. "I can't believe it."

"I guess sometimes the murderer is the least suspected person."

"I guess…" She then tugged at my sleeve and I sat down next to her. "Kid-kun, why are you helping me this much? We don't talk or hang out much and yet you're being so nice to me…"

_It's because I love you._

"Oh, it's nothing much," I assured. "You're my friend and I always help out a friend, that's all."

"Wow.." she remarked in awe and amazement. "You're a really great friend, you know that?"

_Friend._

_That word cuts through me like razor blades._

"Thank you."

"No, I should be the one thanking you, Kid-kun." She suddenly took a hold of my hand and sighed contently. "You remind me of Soul."

…

"How so?"

"You're so caring and yet you're a closed door. I've always wanted to free Soul of his closed, apathetic self and just when it seemed that I was succeeding, he disappeared." She laughed and smiled pitifully. "I always wanted to free him, I wanted him to stop ignoring me and stop acting cool, but it turns out that someone else got to him before me."

_He doesn't deserve you._

_How can someone ignore a person like you?_

"I'm sure he's in a good place," I reassured as I brushed my hand over her dark blond hair. She shivered as she felt my hand run down her hair and touch her neck. I couldn't control myself.

"Kid-kun, what are you -?"

"Please," I interrupted. "Just pretend that I'm Soul."

_I don't want you to pretend, but that's the only way, right?_

_Since you don't love me back…_

To my surprise, she didn't reject my advances and I found myself caressing her chin and kissing her on the cheek, sending a chill down her spine.

"I love you, Maka," I whispered into her trembling ear.

She stiffened and looked up at me in shock, but she didn't push me away.

"Kid-kun, I…" Her voice trailed off as I realized she was unable to say she loved me back.

I shook my head and smiled. "It's ok," I reassured. "You don't have to love me back."

_I wish you did._

_I've done everything for you._

_What will it take for you to love me back?_

"I'm sorry.." she apologized guiltily and gently touched my arm.

"It's alright," I reassured as I reached for her hand. "But please…" I leaned forward, surprising her into backing away slightly. "Let me kiss you, just once."

Light as a feather.

Soft as snow.

I wish that kiss never had to end.

My lips were cold and still and hers were warm and trembling; we balanced perfectly.

As I pulled back and gazed at her scarlet, flushed face, we heard a crashing noise from down below.

She turned around in shock and got up. "What's going on?"

"Let's go and see," I suggested and opened the door.

We rushed downstairs to see that the inn was a mess and there were people lying unconscious, or rather, hopefully unconscious and bleeding on the floor.

Maka grabbed my arm in fear and terror as I lifted my head up to see a certain, dark-clothed woman standing in front of me with a menacing smirk on her face.

"Chrona."

"Hello," she eerily greeted and waved her hand, which had the same black spears emitting from her wrists like last time. "I'm here to take away another soul," she sinisterly stated.

My glare at her darkened as I stood in front of Maka, protecting her. "You won't take her away from me."

"We'll see about that."

_What can I do?_

_I'm nothing compared to her._

As she slowly stepped forward, I felt a lump of terror pile up in my throat as I realized that I was indeed, helpless. I had the gun in my pocket, but it only had a single bullet and was rendered useless. I decided to go for it anyway.

As I was about to reach into my pocket and grab my gun, to my shock and disbelief, Maka suddenly stepped forward. "Chrona, I -."

Thwack!

My eyes widened and I gasped in horror as Chrona abruptly threw her hand across Maka's face, violently slashing her cheek and causing her to fall sideways and crash onto the floor with a thud.

As I watched her breathe heavily in pain, I felt something inside me snap, but it wasn't a vein.

_Ah._

_What is this?_

_Pain.._

I felt my skin tear away as black, leathery wings sprouted out of my back and razor blades tore out from the sides of my arms. It was just like when Chrona involved into her demon-like form, but this time, it was happening to me.

_Mutation?_

_Is this caused by the black blood?_

I screamed in pain as I felt a hot blood rush to my face, causing me to step back into a wall.

_I can't take it._

_This is too much._

My evolution had created a pool of black blood, and all of it belonged to me.

I slowly opened my eyes and gained sight as I heard Maka screaming in terror.

_What am I?_

"You… are.." Even Chrona was taken aback by my metamorphism.

"I am you," I stated as I felt a snide smirk crawl up on my lips.

_I can kill her now._

_There is no need for a gun._

Before she could even utter a word, I charged forward, tackling her to the floor and sending one of my razor blades slicing into her stomach, causing a geyser of black blood to gush out. She coughed and spluttered as I got up and stood over her. My bloodstained hair stuck to my face, but I didn't care. My eyes were locked on Chrona.

As I opened my mouth to speak, I felt something swerve and slice past my leg, making me cry out in pain and fall to my knees.

"I don't die easily," Chrona stated with a chuckle as she wiped the blood off her cheek.

I slowly got up, swaying sideways as I did so. We stood still for a moment, both of us not losing sight of each other.

Clang!

We threw our arms at each other at the same time, causing my razor blades to lock in with her ebony spears. Both of us were at our limit, which was equally powerful. She continued to push forward, but I didn't let her get those spears close to me and I used all of my force to push back. A yellow aura resonated from my body and a purple aura resonated from hers as we reached the peak of our strength, which was near the breaking point.

_Now._

_Let go._

To her shock and confusion, I abruptly jumped back, but before she could charge forward and slash me with her spears, I immediately tackled her again, this time using all of my might to pierce her through the heart.

_That should do it._

I panted tiredly as I got up and turned to look at Maka, who was protecting herself in a corner and quietly rooting for me.

_That's it, right?_

_It's over now._

"You idiot." I felt an arm yank me down to the floor and I realized that it was the person I dreaded most. "I don't have a heart," she whispered, to my disbelief and horror. "I will never die."

_No, that can't be possible._

_Wait._

_How did she kill Medusa?_

My eyes widened as I came up with an idea.

_A slit to the throat._

I turned to look at her again, this time with a piercing glare.

"You're wrong," I stated with a smirk. "I know how to kill you."

She frowned in confusion, but shielded herself as I charged forward and tried to attack her with all my might. Her puzzlement and anxiety caused her to let down her guard and I easily slipped my arm past hers and violently slashed her neck, causing her to gasp and fall backwards in shock.

I stood over her dying body and watched her slowly bleed to death.

"Goodbye, Chrona."

She gasped for air, but was able to say her last words. "Do you know.. You will end up like me, you're already beginning to lose your sanity, aren't you?"

_What?_

"What are you saying?" I demanded.

She chuckled in enjoyment as she took satisfaction in my anxiety and worry. "The black blood will eventually take over your body and you will no longer be able to control yourself," she explained sinisterly. "The shy, insecure Chrona who you and Maka knew wasn't actually me; I took over her body. I'm the black blood speaking, not Chrona."

"W-what are you saying?"

"You killed an innocent young girl, not a demon." She laughed in amusement and sighed. "And eventually you'll also end up like this, your rage and insanity will drive you to killing those most important to you. See, I don't need to kill Maka, you'll eventually end up doing that by yourself," she pointed out with a smirk.

"No… you're lying."

"Will you risk it?" She then coughed and gasped as she drifted off to death. Black blood evaporated from her body as the spears and scars evaporated, leaving a normal, clean body, which was still alive.

_What the -?_

"… Huh?" Her eyes slowly rolled over to look at me in surprise and confusion. "Kid-san? Maka-san?" Her voice was pure and innocent, much to my disbelief. As she reached forward and tried to take a hold of my hand, she slowly stopped breathing and dropped her hand, falling prey to death.

_I killed her._

_I killed an innocent girl._

I stared at the body in distress and clutched my aching head.

_This is all wrong._

_It wasn't supposed to be like this._

_Moreover.._

_What she said before.._

I turned to look at Maka, who was slowly walking over to me.

_Is it true?_

_Am I going to end up… killing her?_

"Kid-kun, what Chrona said…"

"I'm not going to risk it," I immediately stated.

"What?" She frowned and shook her head. "What do you mean by that? What are you going to do?"

I felt the blades and wings sink back into my body as I took a hold of her trembling hand. "You don't have to worry," I reassured with a smile. "I'll take care of everything."

She grimaced worriedly as we stepped outside the inn and stood in the middle of the dark, lonely street.

"Maka, I want you to head back to Shibusen and pretend that none of this ever happened."

She shook her head and grabbed my hand. "You're coming too, right?"

I smiled and nodded. "I'll follow you in just a minute. Just give me a moment to clear everything up, ok?"

She stared at me hesitantly for a moment before reluctantly nodding and letting go of my hand. "Hurry up, alright? I'll see you there."

As she turned around and started to head off, I suddenly called out.

"Maka..!"

She turned around in surprise. "What?"

"I love you."

Her frown softened into a smile and she nodded. "I like you, too, Kid-kun."

_That's more than enough._

I waved my hand and bid her farewell. "Goodbye, Maka-san."

She waved back and smiled warmly, the same symmetrical smile that made me fall in love with her. "Goodbye, Kid-kun."

As I watched her disappear into the distance, I clutched my hand and sighed.

_I guess it's time._

I slowly reached into my pocket and pulled out my silver gun, which I then raised, levelling to my left temple. I closed my eyes as I reached a finger for the trigger and deeply breathed in.

_Mother._

_I will die by the same gun that I used to kill you._

Click.

_I hope that we won't meet each other in hell._

_If we do…_

_I'll be looking forward to murdering you a second time._

Bang!

* * *

I'm floating down a scarlet river; I'm on a boat. The air is chilling and there's a mist surrounding me; I can see reeds near the brown, dead grass. The crimson water, which I assume to be blood, is crashing against the boat, but the boat isn't even rocking.

Someone's rowing it.

She has long black hair and a thin, almost anorexic figure. She's humming a song, which I recognize.

Well, who knew?

It seems that I'll have to be using the silver gun one more time.


End file.
